She nodded. ‘You won’t go away?’

‘Of course not. I’ll be waiting right here when you return, I promise.’

Andi hated the thought of the examination, almost changed her mind as she followed the doctor into the next room, then suddenly the thought of Eric jumped into her mind. The last thing she remembered was sitting having a drink with him.

She paused at the door. ‘Eric.’

The policewoman looked at her questioningly.

‘There was a customer at the club called Eric and they made me dance with him and have drinks with him all night. He was horrible. The way he kept touching me, looking at me, made me shiver.’

‘They?’

‘At the club. I’m a hostess, just go there to dance and talk to people. I’m not a prostitute. I don’t go with men after work.’

The policewoman took down the details. ‘I’ll just pass this on before we go any further. We’ll see if we can get any CCTV footage before the person realises what’s happened. If you remember anything else, let me know.’

The doctor was very gentle but at her touch Andi started sobbing again; she didn’t know why.

‘Do you want me to stop?’

‘No. Just get it over with.’ She dug her fingers into the palms of her hands and started counting the cracks in the ceiling.

‘There, that’s finished. You can have a shower now.’

But she had to find out. ‘Did they do it? Rape me?’

‘Yes.’

She shuddered and felt like vomiting, but when the doctor again suggested a shower, she couldn’t get the rest of the paper clothes off quickly enough. She stayed under the hot water for a long time, didn’t want to come out, but in the end the doctor coaxed her out and showed her the clothes her mother had brought.

It was wonderful to be covered up again, covered from head to toe. She’d never complain about her mother’s taste in clothes as long as she lived.

In the waiting room, she went to sit close to her mother again. When Sophie took her hand, that simple act brought another rush of tears because Andi felt so dirty, in spite of the shower.

Her mother squeezed her hand. ‘Try to answer their questions, darling. We want to catch him, don’t we? Stop him doing this to other women?’

So she did her best, because that was the only thing she was certain of, that she wanted him caught. It had to be that horrible Eric person, just had to. Who else could it have been?

When the questioning was over, Andi turned to her mother. ‘Can I come home with you? Just for a few days. I’ll be very quiet, won’t disturb you—’ She began weeping again. She hadn’t cried like this since her dad died.

‘Of course you can come home with me. I was going to suggest it.’

Sophie let Andi choose which bedroom she wanted, because they’d told her to give her daughter as much power as possible, even over tiny details. She made sure there were plenty of towels in the en suite, not knowing what else to say or do to help.